India's distressed debt market ready for take off

Indian distressed debt has emerged as an opportunity compelling enough to attract interest from a number of key global players.

As far back as 2001 IndiaÆs central bank, the Reserve Bank of India RBI advised banks and financial institutions to implement a Corporate Debt Restructuring CDR system, aimed at restructuring the debt of ôviable entities effected by internal and external factorsö. This is a voluntary mechanism based on debtor-creditor and inter-creditor agreements, applicable to standard and sub-standard accounts where lenders have an exposure of Rs200 million or higher. However, it was not until 2005 that activity really picked up. We...